Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, left, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions outline President Trump’s revised executive order restricting travel from terrorism-plagued countries. (Photo: Reuters)
The Trump Administration aims to implement the reinstated travel ban in an “orderly fashion” after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the injunction earlier this week. The collaboration, which included senior officials from the State Department (DOS), the Justice Department (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), hope to avoid the not-so orderly rollout that accompanied the first executive order.
The White House said they have been finalizing the criteria pertaining to visitors from six majority-Muslim nations.
“With the objective of maximizing national security, the Department of State will implement Executive Order 13780, ‘Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States’ in an orderly fashion,” Heather Nauert, State Department spokesperson said following the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision.
Ms. Nauert also said in an emailed statement that the “Department of State will provide additional details on implementation after consultation with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.”
U.S. embassies and consulates await instructions from the White House on Wednesday and the ban will go into effect on Thursday. The Court on Monday reinstated enforcement of President Donald J. Trump’s executive order until oral arguments are heard in October, 2017. The only exception impacts those who have bona fide relations to U.S. citizens or institutions, such as close relatives or U.S.-based companies.
“An American individual or entity that has a bona fide relationship with a particular person seeking to enter the country as a refugee can legitimately claim concrete hardship if that person is excluded,” the Court wrote. “As to these individuals and entities, we do not disturb the injunction. But when it comes to refugees who lack any such connection to the United States, for the reasons we have set out, the balance tips in favor of the Government’s compelling need to provide for the Nation’s security.”
But there is still an effort underway to use the legal system to gum up implementation of the order.
“Generally, there are relatively few individuals from the ban countries who are issued visitor visas,” immigration attorney Matthew Kolken told Fox News. “It is exceptionally difficult to prove that they will return to a country where there is civil unrest, or where their lives are in danger.”
Still, Mr. Kolken, whose helps foreigners gain legal entry to the U.S., said that the Trump Administration treats refugee children better than the prior administration. President Trump “de-prioritized the deportation of refugee children from Central America,” whom he claimed “were at the top of the list under President Obama.”
Leftwing refugee activist groups will attempt to obfuscate cases in which travelers “qualify for professional and extraordinary ability visas,” as David Leopold, the former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association put it. He said the “anti-immigrant extremists setting Trump Administration policy are aiming at putting a huge ‘Closed for Business’ sign on the Statue of Liberty.”
“These policies will hurt and cost America dearly.”
Americans disagree. The People’s Pundit Daily (PPD Poll) Big Data Poll has repeatedly found majority support for President Trump’s executive order.
“We will keep those traveling to the United States and partners in the travel industry informed as we implement the order in a professional, organized, and timely way,” Ms. Nauert added. “We are also in contact with our partners in the implementation of the United States Refugee Admissions Program, and will keep them apprised of changes as they take effect.”
